


Does Jim Halpert is Gay

by mundanefall



Category: The Office (US)
Genre: Established Relationship, Humor, Jealousy, M/M, established jim/dwight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:42:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24719980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mundanefall/pseuds/mundanefall
Summary: When Jim's supposed ex is the new hire of the office, it leaves everyone questioning is Jim really gay or is this some sort of prank he is trying to pull on all of them.Alternately: Jim's ex shows up and Dwight is feeling jealous
Relationships: Jim Halpert/Dwight Schrute, Jim Halpert/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 25
Kudos: 213





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so with quarantine going on, I have started rewatching The Office and reading fics which basically accumulated into this. Sorry if the characters are ooc, this is my first Office fanfic and my first fanfic in a while so let me dust off my writing skills.
> 
> Note: this takes place in an au where Jim got over his crush on Pam an they never got together.

7 am at Dunder Mifflin's offices; everyone was settling in for a long day of work. Suddenly, the door to Michael's office bursts opened. A startling moment but not an unusual one. However, the man standing next to Michael was. 

The man next to him was slightly taller than Michael, with blonde hair slicked back into a faux hawk. He was dressed smartly in a pale grey button-up and slacks. 

"G'day mate!" Michael announced in a terrible Australian accent. "I'd like to introduce everyone to our newest employee! Kaden Sanderson!" 

The man waved with a slight grin, not seeming at all phased by Michael's brash introduction of him. "Hello, it's nice to meet you all." He had a thick Australian accent, bringing some sort of sense to Michael's shitty joke. 

"Well, let's jump right in and start putting some shrimp on the barbie."

Kaden forced a smile, looking closer to a grimace, at Michael's joke. With any luck, the stereotypical jokes would die soon. At least, he hoped they would.

It took nearly 15 minutes to go around the office and getting some first impressions of all the employees. Kade was officially ready to say he was done for the day. How did they get anything done here? He was seriously considering his life choices when the final Dunder Mifflin employee walked in.

"Jim, come meet the newest member of our family Ka-"

"Kade Sanderson?" Jim cut him off with a shocked tone.

"Jamie Halpert, it's been a while."

"Look at you, back in small-town Scranton." 

"Pot meet kettle. As if you didn't end up the same."

Both men were grinning and slipping into familiar banter before Michael spoke up. "As much as I hate to break up this lovely reunion. I gotta introduce you to the people down in the warehouse." 

Kade gave a two-finger salute to Jim before he followed Michael down to the office, while Jim gave a salute back. He turned back to the rest of the office, who were all staring at him? 

"What?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so, I'm not exactly writing from the perspective of the camera (I add inner thoughts and shit the camera wouldn't catch) but I am adding talking head scenes as if I was. So, now you're left with an amalgamation of the two.

"So, how do you know the new guy?" Kelly asked, the rest of the office still hanging around Jim's desk, indiscreetly searching for answers.

"He and I dated back in college," Jim responded casually. He took off his messenger bag and draped it over the back of his chair.

"You're gay?!?!"

"Well, technically bi but sure," Jim settled down to start on his work. "It's not that big of a deal."

"It kinda is." Kelly took a step forward with purpose in her stride.

Jim looked up to see that a majority of his coworkers were looking at him, confused, not heading back to their desks. He let out a sigh before addressing them. "Look, it's really not that big of a deal. Besides, it's not like you didn't know." He added with a shrug.

"Of course, we didn't know." She was getting annoyed at his dismissive tone. Kelly was determined to get to the bottom of this. She had to know if this was real or if Jim was going to turn around and reveal it was a prank.

"What do you mean you didn't know?" Jim's eyebrows rose in confusion, "Pam knew." He threw a glance over his shoulder to where Pam was sitting at the reception desk.

"That doesn't count." This time Angela chimed in with a scoff.

"She could be in on the prank with you," Ryan added in helpfully.

"Dwight knew."

All eyes turned on the man in question, who sat at the desk next to Jim. Dwight didn't look surprised in the slightest, just annoyed Jim turned the attention to him.

"Within the first hour of meeting me, he told me I had ' _feminine hips_ ', which would be beneficial in helping me attracting a ' _more dominant mate_ '." Jim sarcastically commented, with heavily exaggerated air quotes.

The office was stunned into silence. Everybody glanced questioningly at each other. Did the others had known or even suspected this? Maybe this was some kind of prank? Apparently, with the help of Dwight, because the other man had turned back to his computer, without a word.

The camera cuts to Jim in the conference room. He sighed.

"This is exactly the reason I didn't tell them. They'd make it this big thing." He paused, "I didn't want to make things weird, but it's too late for that."

"I didn't exactly hide it from them either. I just never came out and said it like that." He glances off to the left, an unreadable expression on his face.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The rest of the office speculate while Jim and Kade have a conversation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all of those who are showing support for this fic, it brightens my day to see that you're enjoying! This chapter was longer than initially planned and the next chapter is guaranteed to actually have Jim/Dwight interactions.

The office gathered together outside the breakroom, where Jim and Kade were talking and eating lunch. The two men were laughing at some joke Jim had told. 

"So... Do you think they dated?" Kelly asked the crowd. She had somehow stepped into what usually was Jim's role in these kinds of conversations. She was ready to get to the bottom of this; it's the most exciting event in the office since Ryan joined. 

"I think it's another one of Jim's pranks." Angela added, "He had that massive crush on Pam; it's hard to believe that he's gay."

"Yeah, Pam and Jim have been eye-fucking since he got hired," Kevin added. 

Eyes turned to Pam as she blushed; the embarrassed and flustered expression on her face didn't help her innocence. She tried to stutter out a response, but her coworkers had already turned back to each other to speculate on Jim's apparent sexuality. 

The camera cuts to Pam in the conference room, the crowd visible from the window behind her. 

"I mean, I knew Jim had a crush on me, and we had flirted, but were we really that bad?" She looks down, away from the camera, with a thoughtful expression. "Were we?" Her voice was soft and unsure.

After a moment, she looked back up and stated with finality in her voice. "Even if we were as bad as they had said Jim's dating someone else now. We're still best friends despite the romantic feelings we may have carried.

The camera then cuts back to the rest of the office once more. Things have escalated since before Pam's talking head. At some point, Kade had moved closer to Jim, their shoulders touching as Kade showed Jim pictures on his phone. 

"Look! That's obviously romantic tension, right there!" Kelly insisted.

"Phones have small screens, of course, they're going to be close if he wants to show something to Jim," Andy argued back, his tone annoyed and rising in volume. 

"Andy, you're not wrong, but why couldn't he just show Jim from across the table?" Ryan added as he moved to Kelly's side, he put a hand to the small of her back in a calming gesture. 

"Exactly!" Kelly smirked triumphantly, "This is the same kind of tension that was between Jim and Pam." 

"Does it really matter that much if Jim's gay or not?" Toby interrupted before an argument could erupt. "What he does in his spare time should only be relevant to him and his girlfriend... or boyfriend, I guess." He added that last part with a glance to the break room. 

The camera cuts to the conference room once more, this time with Toby sitting there. 

"Look, it's not my problem if Jim and Kaden have dated in the past." Toby started. "My job of being in HR is only relevant if they're still currently dating." 

"Do I think they're dating? Well, it's not my place to comment on the personal affairs of the employees, but no." 

This time when the camera cuts away, it's now filming in the breakroom. Jim packed away his lunch and stands. 

"This has been fun." He comments casually, "Really brings back college memories." 

"It has, it's a shame that we never stuck together long enough to get this domestic back then," Kade added; they started dating halfway through freshman year but broke up as the stress of higher education got to them. 

"Yeah, I can't imagine how things would have changed if we were still together." 

Kade chuckled in agreement. "Well, from what I heard, you're with that receptionist chick now." 

"Who, Pam?"

"Yeah, that's her name." Kade snapped his fingers, grinning at Jim.

"I mean, we nearly dated, but that's no longer the case." Jim pointed out and walked over to fill another cup with coffee. He sighed when he noticed that only the dregs at the bottom of the pot were left; he poured it out and set about making a new pot.

"Oh? Come on, Jamie, don't tell me you're a prude now." Kade followed him over to the coffee machine. 

"No, seriously. We've never actually dated. Like, we absolutely were flirting at one point. It was complicated; Pam had a fiance, and then I transferred, and when I came back, things were different." Jim said with a bittersweet smile. While he had imagined getting together with Pam, things had changed when he got back from Stamford. 

Sure, Pam called off her and Roy's engagement, but they weren't on the same page afterward. There was speculation that he had gotten with Karen at that time. Too bad, he felt that it was too soon and too much like a rebound and couldn't go through with it. Which, left Jim without a girlfriend after the merger. 

"Besides, I don't need to be in a relationship to be happy." 

"Woah, no need to get so defensive." Jim shook his head; Kade was the same as in college. Always on the lookout for a boyfriend or at least a hookup. 

Jim sat in the conference room again. "Yeah, I was upset that Pam and I didn't date after my return, but during that time, we both changed. And our ideals for a relationship had changed." He paused for a moment.

"But now we're just friends," He adds, his expression becoming a fond smile. "Besides, I'm dating Dwi-" He cuts himself off as he realized what he almost said. "Someone else, I'm dating someone else." He chuckled nervously as an attempt to cover up his mistake.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dwight confronts Jim about Kaden.

"Yes, I'll go double-check and call you right back," Jim said into the phone before he hung up. Jim leaned back in his chair and rolled the tension from his shoulder. He stood up from his chair, not noticing Dwight's gaze. 

Jim needed to grab something from the storage closet. As he walked off, Dwight's gaze lingered on his behind. When Dwight finally looked away from Jim, he meets Pam's eyes. From behind the reception desk, Pam gave him a knowing smile, and Dwight quickly broke eye contact in embarrassment, heat rising to his cheeks. 

Jim was standing in the doorway; he tried to spot what he needed from the light of the doorway when someone shoved him harshly into the closet. Jim stumbled inside before someone entered behind him and shut the door, leaving them in the dark.

"Jim, explain this instant." A familiar voice sounded from behind Jim. He turned to face Dwight. 

"Dwight, what are you doing? Why are we here?" Jim asked, his tone annoyed at the other man. 

"This Kaden character has been flirting with you all morning." Dwight pointed an accusatory finger at Jim and took an aggressive step towards him. 

"Dwight, nothing is going on between Kade and me. We had a history, sure, but I'm with you now, and I'm not going to let a college fling ruin that for the both of us." This time Jim took a step forward, his hands held in front of him in a placating manner. "How could I ruin the best relationship I've ever been in just for some hook up from years ago?" 

At this point, the two men were standing chest to chest. Dwight raised his hands to hold Jim's hips possessively. He then leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the taller man's lips. Jim wrapped his arms around Dwight's shoulders in return. The older man had backed them towards the back wall of the closet and slotted his thigh between the taller man's legs. 

Back in the office, their coworkers had noticed Jim's absence. He had been gone too long for just grabbing something from the closet. 

"Oh, Jim's been away from his desk for a while," Phyllis observed out loud. "Do you think Jim is with Kaden right now?" Phyllis asked teasingly, not directing the question at anyone in particular.

The camera cuts to Phyllis in the conference room. Jim's and Dwight's empty seats visible through the window from the angle the camera was filming. 

"I obviously don't think Jim's somewhere with Kade right now." She started with a giggle. "But it sure is entertaining to watch the rest of them scramble to figure it out." She added with a mischievous grin. 

In the main office, Kelly gathered everyone once more. "So we're going to bet on if we think Jim's gay or not."

"Actually, Jim Halpert came out as bisexual, not gay," Oscar interrupted with an insightful comment. "So even if we are right in that he dated Kaden for real, we would technically not win the bet because Jim wouldn't be gay." 

"Fine." Kelly agreed with a sigh, fed up with Oscar's shit. "We're betting on if Jim is bi or if this is a very elaborate prank he somehow cooked up with the newbie. 

"I refuse to participate in this nonsense." Angella scoffed arrogantly, beginning to head back to her desk and do some work, not just stand around debating Jim Halpert's latest attempt at a prank. 

"Oh, don't be such a prude, Angella," Kevin called after his fellow accountant. 

"Well, I think she's just too much of a coward to put her money where her mouth is." Phyllis goaded the blonde, who at this point had stopped in her tracks. Angella had turned to face the group before huffing angrily. She stormed past her desk and into the break room. 

"... Anyways. I'm putting five bucks down on Jim being bi." Kelly started again. "Ryan, are you going to support me?" She asked, leaning into her boyfriend's shoulder. As more people added to the pot of money, none of them noticed the fact that Dwight had been missing just as long as Jim was. 

Dwight entered the office, and Pam gives him a knowing smirk. He smiled back smugly, silently telling her what he had been up to while he was gone. Just before he could settle into his chair once more, Kelly called him over. 

"Dwight, do you want to bet on if Jim's bi or not?" 

"Kelly, did you not forget? Dwight's apparently in on the secret." Ryan stopped her before Dwight could join in on their speculation.

Dwight sat with a smug smirk on his face during his talking head. "Of course, I knew Jim was bisexual."

"From the moment I first met at him, I knew." His eyes contained a mischievous sparkle, usually out of place for the serious and stern man. "Not just the combination of his feminine hips and his shoulders. Jim's feminine in a lot more ways than that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to shout out all the lovely people who have left comments. Thank you to SoftIceCream, NeufPaprika, Akj20, and ChancesareIshipit. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :)
> 
> Also, feel free to speculate in the comments on if the different characters betted on if Jim is bi or if it was a prank.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dwight is getting jealous (you can tell I'm good at these).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: I have changed the rating of this fic from general to teen, mostly because this chapter has a few implications and I wanted to be safe. I have also added the 'established relationship' tag.

It was the end of the day, and everyone was excited to go home. Stanley had already left, and the rest of the coworkers were following in his footsteps. 

Kaden had gathered his stuff and was now leaning against Jim's desk. "So got any plans this weekend, Jamie?" The Australian man asked flirtatiously. 

"Well, I'll have to see," Jim replied just as coy, glancing up through his eyelashes. He ignored the scathing look Dwight shot him from his desk. The older man looked good in green, Jim thinks to himself before his eyes darted back to meet Kaden's.

"I guess you won't get a repeat of the good old college days then." Kaden leered, moving into closer to the other man. 

"I don't know what you mean." Jim teased back as he shoved the Australian back with his arm. "I mean, we had some disappointing times in college." He grinned, leaning back in his seat, arm falling to his side. 

"I know for a fact, that's not what you said when I-" Kades voice lowered to a whisper as he leaned forwards and whispered the rest into Jim's ear. 

"Oh my god." Jim's face turned bright red, and he leaned forwards, hiding it in his hands. 

The camera focuses on Jim in the conference room; his face is still read and still in his hands. He looks up at the camera, showing off his embarrassment. 

"I-." He starts but cuts himself off before trying again. "I don't think I can repeat what he said." 

The camera cuts back to Dwight. The older man is fuming, glaring at Kaden's back. Kaden slaps him on the shoulder before standing to head out, leaving a flustered Jim in his wake. Jim stood up, hastily grabbing all his items and showing them into his messenger bag before bolting right out the office door. 

When Jim arrived at Shrute farms that evening with the takeout, he had picked up on the way; Dwight was waiting at the front door. Jim pulled into the driveway and opened the door. He rushed to greet the older man with their dinner. 

"Hey, Dwight." Jim greeted with a smile.

"Jim," Dwight responded cooly, even more so than usual. 

"Are you angry at the Kade thing this afternoon?" Jim asked, realizing how jealous and possessive Dwight was acting today. "You know I won't go out with him. Especially not on a date." Jim tried to reassure, but his boyfriend had silently returned inside the house, leaving Jim to follow like a lost puppy. 

After entering the house, Jim set the food on the kitchen counter and went searching for his displeased boyfriend. 

"Come on, you know I would never, under any circumstance, go on a date while I am dating you." Finally, Dwight spun around to face him. 

"This weekend, you will be very, and I mean, extremely busy. You will not be going out with this Kaden fellow nor anyone else." Dwight stepped closer to Jim. The two now stood chest to chest; Dwight possessively gripped the taller man's hips at this point. 

"This weekend, you are completely mine." His tone dropping and Jim couldn't help but shiver.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dwight confronts Kaden

Tuesday morning, the hot topic of the office was Jim and Kaden's little interaction the day before. Dwight sat grumpily at his desk, annoyed that everyone was still talking about it. 

"I can't believe I missed something like this again," Kevin complains grumpily. "First with Jim and Roy, now with Jim and Kaden?" He sighed heavily, shaking his head." 

The coworkers involved in the conversation turn to look when they hear Jim enter the office and greet Pam. 

"Oh my god! Do you see that?" Kelly whisper shouted at the group, gripping Ryan's arm tightly in her excitement. They watched as Jim took off his coat and draped it over the back of his chair. 

"See what?" Ryan asks and attempted to remove his arm from Kelly's death grip. 

"Jim! Are those hickeys?" She doesn't hold her enthusiasm back any further and yells the question across the office. 

The camera turns away from Kelly's excited face to Jim's mortified expression on the other side of the office. Then it cuts to Kelly in the conference room. 

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!" Kelly squealed. "Did you see that? I can't believe that Jim went home with Kaden!" 

Pam smirked knowingly across the reception desk at Dwight. Her expression grew smugger at the look she got back. 

Jim blushes a bright red. His arm reached up to cover his neck. Apparently, he had missed them this morning when getting dressed. Though to the rest of the office, his silence said all that they needed to know. Before they could continue speculation on Jim's love life, Michael's door burst open. 

"Alright! Everyone, today, we are going to have a meeting to discuss..." He trailed off, turning to Jan, who stood behind him. Jan let out a long-suffering sigh, before continuing Michael's sentence. "We're not having a meeting. I was just here to inform everyone that our newest employee, Kaden Sanderson, has been wrongly assigned to this branch of Dunder Mifflin. There's another branch that has been understaffed for several months. Due to an error higher up, Kaden was to Scranton. So today will be his last day with you all." 

Jan finished succinctly before leaving the office. The coworkers shot glances at each other as she left. 

"Well, anyway, in memorial of our short time together, we should throw a party for Kaden!" Michael announced with a wide grin on his face. He looked over to where Angela was standing to listen to Jan's announcement. The woman in question gave a slight nod before gathering the other members of the party planning committee into the conference room. 

Jim sat down at his dest to start working; however, he couldn't help but notice Dwight, staring at him from where the older man was sitting. "What?" He asked, but the older man didn't respond. Dwight just turned back to his monitor, causing Jim to shrug the interaction off.

Later in the day, Jim found his eyes drooping; he didn't get much sleep last night. He stood from his chair, stretching before reaching for his mug and heading off into the break room. Jim suppressed a yawn while walking past Kade's temporary workspace. He guessed it could be called a workspace, but it was a few planks of wood held up by boxes of paper hastily cobbled together. 

On the other side of the room, Dwight watched from as Jim stood for a coffee break, subtly admiring the younger man's backside as he walked. His small smile quickly fell off his face, however, when he saw Kaden stand to follow him. Dwight scowled and huffed, debating whether or not to go after them.

Jim sighed at the sight of the empty coffee pot. Again it was left barren. He reached up to the cabinet above the counter to get more coffee to fill the machine. As he was reaching, someone entered the breakroom. 

"Hey, Jamie." Kaden steps further into the room. Jim turned to greet him with a polite smile.

"Oh, hey, Kade. Did you also want to get some coffee." Jim asked, turning back to continue his search for the grounds. 

"Well, Jamie." The blond moved closer to the other man, now standing in his personal space. "I was coming in to ask if you thought about my offer last night." 

Jim took a step back from the taller man, clearly looking uncomfortable. "I..." Jim trailed off, not knowing how to respond. 

Kaden took another step forwards, forcing Jim to move back. The Australian had backed Jim into a corner at this point. He leaned in, so the two were face to face. "So?" He asked with a sly grin on his face. 

Another stroke of good luck struck fo Jim when Pam poked her head into the breakroom. "Kade, Michael asked to talk to you in the warehouse."

Kaden huffed but complied and headed to the stairs leading down into the warehouse. Jim shot a grateful look at the reception, still standing in the doorway. She returned with a smile and wink. 

Kaden exited into the hallway, muttering under his breath angrily at Michael, who had interrupted his moment. Suddenly he was pushed up against the wall, not unlike the position he had Jim in seconds ago, leaving him disoriented. 

"Stay away from Jim." Dwight's stern voice greeted him. 

"I don't know what you mean." Kaden teased the older man coyly. 

"Don't lie to me. You, Kaden Sanderson, are flirting with my coworker Jim Halpert." Dwight's scowled deepened when the taller refused to cooperate. 

"I don't have a clue what you're talking about." 

The mischievous gleam in his eyes caused Dwight to snap and pull out a hunting knife. "You will leave Jim alone, or you will sharing your nutrients with my beats." 

The smirk dropped instantaneously, fear covering the emotion up the smug look that once was there. Kaden gulped audibly. He nodded in agreement. 

The rest of the day, Kaden hadn't talked to Jim. The office remained oblivious to the tension growing between Dwight and their newest employee. 

"Jamie!" Kade greeted as he approached the man in question's desk. He had thought about it and deemed Dwight's earlier threat to be empty and ignored it. 

Kade was about to continue but made eye contact with the Dwight over Jim's shoulder. Dwight glared back and had subtly brought out his knife once more, hiding it from the rest of their coworkers. Kade instead awkwardly made and excuse and push past his ex. His actions were noticed by the rest of the office, though. They were the hot water cooler gossip. Why Kaden, who had been suave up until this point, made such an awkward and out of character reaction. 

This evening when Jim arrived at Shrute farms, he found his boyfriend cooking dinner in the kitchen.

"Hey, Dwight? Um, did you say something to Kade earlier at the office?" Jim asked, somewhat hesitantly, not sure how to bring up the subject. 

"Of course, I did!" Dwight announced proudly, turning from the stove where he was stirring the sauce. "I saw what he did in the breakroom. I wasn't just going to let that slide."

"He was going to be gone by tomorrow anyways; you didn't have to do anything."

"Jim. Look at me, do you really think he wouldn't have contacted you some other way if I didn't step in." 

Jim opened his mouth to argue further, but Driwght wasn't wrong. Looking back on his college years, Kade had always acted like this with every guy he dated. He pursued hot guys relentlessly. 

Jim walked forwards and pulled Dwight into a kiss. "You're such a dork. But thank you anyway." He pulled away with a thankful look on his face. "Also, your sauce might be burning." 

"Goddammit, Jim!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the long wait between updates but here you guys go, the last chapter. I had a really fun time writing this and I thank all the readers both new and old who have read and showed support! Thank you, and see you all again if I ever write another fic for the Office.


End file.
